SINGAPOREAN SON
\noun\. The National Service conscription act mandates that sons of every Singaporean household are to undergo National Service for two years. It is considered a rite of passage and an important transition point for all Singaporean males. This blog describes the literary journey I had undergone as a Singaporean son while linking my experience to educational theories to analyze my development from an ordinary citizen to a soldier and finally an officer with the Singapore Armed Forces.
Justin Yeo
A Singaporean Son
Read Me.
This site is created for the Education 140AC (Spring'17) autobiography literacy assignment.
All content, including photos, are sourced from public domains or belong to the author and have been subjected to the necessary security clearance procedures. The views expressed on this site are solely that of the author's.
Assignment Overview
The literacy autobiography is housed under the blog section.
​
In my autobiography, I will recount my experiences and key highlights during my National Service stint with the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) from 2014 to 2016. Although these experiences are written retrospectively, they are posted chronologically (i.e. earliest memory = first blog post). It is recommended that the reader first read through the posts in chronological order. The educational theories and concepts highlighted in each experience are marked by the hashtags at the end of each post.
Multimodal Presentation
"The broad move from...writing to the new dominance of the image and the dominance of the medium of the book to the dominance of the medium of the screen... are producing a revolution...of associated means for representing and communicating at every level and in every domain" (Kress, 2003).
​
I chose to present my autobiography as a personal online blog as this allows me to fully embrace multimodality in my presentation format.
I feel that by using an online blog as my medium, I will be able to utilize images and videos to better illustrate my thoughts and give a better idea of the background context given that my experience in the SAF may not be relatable to most readers. Moreover, writing blog posts as opposed to a formal paper allows me to better incorporate 'informal' language such as lingo and emoticons into my writing so as to better capture the mood and my emotions at the point of time.
At the end of my autobiography, if you still require more clarification or wish to find out more about my National Service experience, feel free to talk to me in class or shoot me an email in the contact section below:)
Blog Posts
References
1. Gee, James. What is Literacy. American Journal of Education, v171 n1, 1989. p18-29.
2. Scribner, Sylvia. Literacy in Three Metaphors. American Journal of Education, v93, 1984. p6-19.
3. Kirkland, David. The Skin We Ink. English Education, July 2009. P375-395.
4. Freire, Paulo. Pedagogy of the Oppressed. New York: Continuum, 2000. Ch.2, p71-86.
5. Vygotsky, Lev. Mind and Society. Harvard University Press, 1930. p8-17.
6. Amanti C., Luis C., Neff D., Gonzalez N. Funds of Knowledge for Teaching: Using a Qualitative Approach to Connect Homes and Classrooms. Theory into Practice, Vol 31, No.2, 1992. p163-141.
7. Kress, G. Literacy in the new media age. New York: Routledge, 1983.
8. Wong F. English language development: Acquiring the language needed for literacy and learning. Pearson Education, 2009. p1-15.
Image Credits: Google Images